Gray Beard

My take on the situation: Bengals are good, the Bills of the past few weeks would be unlikely to beat them. I have not been optimistic about this game for the past few weeks. I'm not sure if EJ versus Tyrod will make a big difference. Defense must dominate. Next is the Jaguars, who are not very good, and the Bills should be fine with EJ. Next is the bye week, I don't think it matters. Next is the Dolphins. They are not very good. The Bills should be fine with EJ. Next is the Jets. Now things get interesting. I hope either EJ is doing great, or Tyrod is ready to play.

i approve of this message. To me, Whaley is suspect for not adequately addressing the O-Line. Maybe he tried and did the best he could, I don't know how that works. To me, Romain is suspect for not mixing his run and pass plays very well. Especially short passes. Other teams are emphasizing the quick-out passes that are all the rage in the league these days. It makes sense, isolate a WR on a CB, and develop the timing so that the QB can throw the ball before the WR even turns around. Impossible to defend.

Too many plays that involved TT standing back and looking all over for a receiver to come open. Why not a quick read in the flats? It works for Brady and Eli (and just about every other team in the league), but for some reason the Bills can't make it work. Why not?

That roster is missing a few O-Line pieces. Get 'er done Whaley! +1000 Many of us have been saying this for years! Now it is painfully obvious that the largest missing piece of the puzzle is the O-Line.

Now that would have been the Wannstedt way!

Remember when the Bills drafted McGahee after he tore up his knees? A bold and risky move. And remember how grateful McGahee was? A model of class and citizenship! Willing to stay with the Bills because they took such a big risk! (In a different universe)

Could it be that the DC was not happy that somebody with the previous job description of tight end coach was promoted above him? It seems a little unusual that a HC was fired and not replaced by the OC or DC. There must be a lot of loyalties, in-fighting, or other personality issues at play here.

Not really. I'm just a little curious about the slow starts in the NE and NY Giant games. Both of those games ended up getting better as time wore on, but they sure started off with boring play calling.

Felton is on my list of grievances. I don't know who I am mad at, but it has to be somebody. Why is he so rarely used? He says Sam Gash is a player he wants to emulate. In almost every game, Sam Gash was good for one or two plays that were "block then run out into the flats for a quick pass that results in a good gain." OK, then why don't they use Felton for that? It always got the crowd going, and it almost always worked. In my opinion, Roman may soon be known as the "Wannstedt of the Offense" unless he can find a way to get a little more creative and make better use of his players.

This is a great breakdown! Thanks for posting. I feel sorry for you when you have to re-watch something as awful as that game. I am shocked at the few fines handed out for late hits, unnecessary roughness, etc. There is no shortage of them, whether they were penalized during the game or not. I wonder if there is a way to get the grading results for refs. I know it exists, because they pick the "best" ones for playoffs. Sometimes the NFL goes public with obvious mistakes after the fact. I never understand why happens sometimes but not others. Every game certainly has a share of obvious mistakes. I do not believe in conspiracy theories, but I think refs play favorites, and it is unlikely that any particular players on the Bills, or the team in general, will be among the favorites any time soon. A combination of winning, not getting stupid unnecessary roughness penalties, and limiting the whining will have to be established before the refs will give the team any breaks. Having a player who is a media darling also helps. Mostly winning. I also think that if the Pegulas cozy up with Goodell and company the refs will notice. The refs are not perfect, and the vetting process for getting to the NFL level isn't perfect either.

I feel sorry for Landry. I think he is the only guy on that team that is still trying to win.

Just give it to 'em

They did this a couple years ago in Buffalo, and it worked pretty well.

One of the things people said when Fred went to Seattle was that he was there to look after Marshawn. I guess it works both ways. Great stuff.

I saw something while watching the game and I wonder if anybody has saw this in the All-22... Bradham and Gilmore both lined up in front of a WR. As soon as the ball was snapped, Bradham chipped him and then ran toward the center of the field to fulfill his normal LB duties, and Gilmore then covered the WR. This move disrupts the timing on the quick throw, and lets Gilmore keep his eyes on the play so he can respond accordingly. If Gilmore chipped the WR, he could end up out of position to cover him. I don't know if this was just done once, or did it happen more often. Is it a good idea, or does it just result in having Bradham out of position.

This is a case of the eyeball test versus statistics. - Statistics show that the Bills are scoring pretty well. - The eyeball says there are too many ineffective runs up the middle. I believe the truth to be somewhere in between. Too many ineffective runs up the middle early in games before shifting to more of a spread offense. At least that is what seemed to be the case in the two losses. A running game is great when it works because it keeps your defense/the other offense off the field. But if you don't get first downs, then relying on the running game becomes a liability. What I don't like is the "run, run, pass, punt" series of events. If you run twice with little gain, then everyone knows you will pass on third down. The defense knows what to expect. The fact that there were so few passes on first or second downs early in the game was getting me to yell at the TV. And from the reaction in the TBD shoutbox, I wasn't the only one.

I can't understand how a RB can bounce among the defensive backfield like a pinball and get five or more yards after he should have been wrapped up. The Pats game and the Giants game were full of this. I like the way Bradham plays so I am not going to get too upset about a missed tackle, but Antoine Winfield would have made that tackle. He knew how to go for the ankles and wrap a guy up. I used to love to see him bring down guys who weighed 50 pounds more than he did. Don't they teach things like that anymore?

Unhappy to see MarQueis Gray on IR. Big Sammy was one of the guys I liked to watch for during the game. I was sure he was going to take one to the house sometime soon. But I'm a Bills fan... There's always next year!

My experience in Syracuse and Utica indicates that for the NY/NJ teams the Giants have the most fans by far, the Bills are second, and the Jets are third. I also think that there are just about as many fans of other "popular" teams (GB, Dallas, NE, etc.) than there are fans of the Bills or Jets.

Good to hear. I think Gray has shown signs that he may be a keeper.

Does MarQueis Gray go on IR with a broken arm?

Like the way Stevie was told to sit after another one of his silly end zone celebration penalties.

It happened on my son's high school football team. My son was the Mike, and the Will came up and slugged him in the arm after a good tackle. They gave the Will a 15 yard penalty for throwing a punch.

Doubt the Bengals will be a win. Should beat Titans, Jags and Fish. Will lose one of those games and go 2-2.